BETA verse
by Last Haven
Summary: Usagi's normal life goes spinning from her control when she has weird dreams every night. She learns that she's the MOON SENSHI sworn to protect her home from monsters. But strange things happens and she must meet the other SENSHI to protect their world.
1. The Incident

**BETA-verse**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Pay attention to this as I will not repeat for a while.**

- -

December 31st, 2010:

In a testing government facility in the Arctic Circle, the entire population of the compound, 324 people, is discovered dead. Press releases state there was an earthquake which resulted in the main furnace fracturing and exploding, killing everyone. The families of the people are compensated but left without the bodies of their loved ones.

But this is not what really happened.

On December 31st, each member of the facility was brutally mauled. When the bodies were discovered they had been found shredded. There was one surviving member who was drained of all sanity who babbled of monsters before subsiding to death barely an hour later.

The governments of the world shushed the incident up, silencing any information leaks before the truth was given to the press.

Two years later, the governments of each major country quietly develop a top secret branch of their militaries. Officially, there is no such branch but in truth this branch was developed to protect the people from attacks of monsters. In these top secret bases, people claiming to be having bizarre dreams of these monsters were trained as SENSHI.

One from America.

One from Argentina.

One from England.

One from France.

One from Germany.

One from China.

One from Spain.

One from Italy.

In 2013, one last one was discovered in Japan.

This is her story.


	2. The Dream

I was fifteen when the dreams started.

They were bizarre dreams at first; I dreamed I was flying up to the night's sky like I was riding a sled on a jet stream—yes, I know, weird analogy but it's the only way to describe it. I was suddenly rocketing to the moon, laughing with my head tossed back in awe. It was later that the other images began to flash through them. The other images were confusing and at times terrifying—I saw horrible monsters, soulless eyes, bloodied hands.

But I also saw such wondrous things. I saw kind faces, comforting arms, and even beloved people in my life yet to come. I saw him first there too.

The dreams lasted for the better part of two months before my parents sought out medical help—I was losing my good health and I was getting weaker. My frail body was so drained form my restless sleep. The dreams were tearing me apart.

That is where my story begins.

- -

"TSUKINO!"

"Wah," Usagi gasped, jumping so high in her seat that her legs slammed against the bottom of the desk. Her eyes watered as she rubbed her knees; she looked up as her teacher frowned down at her. "Ah...sorry, Sakurada-sensei." Other students looked back with puzzled expressions—the blonde often fell asleep in class but for the last week the amount of times she had done so had been getting ridiculous.

"Usagi-chan, I've had to wake you up three times this morning. Why can't you get enough sleep at home?"

"Ahh, Sakurada-sensei, I do get sleep. It's just not...very restful."

"Usagi-chan, stay after for detention—if you can't stay awake for class then you'll just have to after to make up for wasted time."

"Ah, Sakurada-sensei, I _can't_ stay after! I have a doctor's appointment," Usagi wailed.

Sakurada-sensei blinked at her then frowned. "Usagi-chan, will this have anything to do with your unusual sleeping habits?"

"Eh...yes, Sakurada-sensei," she mumbled quietly. Sakurada-sensei shook her head but turned back to the board. Usagi lifted a brow and wondered whether or not she was off the hook. She waited for more than half the hour before decided that she was in the clear. She promptly grinned and went back to sleep.

Four hours later, after sleeping straight through next three hours, Usagi hefted herself up and staggered over to the door drunkenly after everyone else had left. She was halfway out the door when she heard a voice behind her call out her name.

"Tsukino."

Usagi blinked and stared back over her shoulder to her teacher. Sakurada-sensei had a pained look on her face as she spoke. "Usagi-chan, make sure to get better and catch up with your work."

Usagi smiled brightly despite her exhaustion and nodded. "Yes, Sensei," she said promptly and walked out the door.

It was a messy business getting down the stairs without falling on her face. She had to cling to the handrail as she eased herself down the steps, testing her weight on each foot before stepping completely down. She nearly cheered for joy when she saw the door leading outside. She hobbled her way out and as quickly as she could, "raced" out the door, through the courtyard, and nearly collapsed outside the school's gate.

Usagi rested against the frame of the gate as she sighed. "_Sooo sleepy_..." she murmured. She began to slide down the wall when she heard her father's voice. She blinked wearily as he raced over and began to pull her along to his car.

"C'mon, Usagi-chan, time to go for to doctor's office," he said, as he picked her up and helped her into the car. She sighed wearily and fell asleep, face smashed against the window making a funny sight for others who saw her looking so silly.

She could barely stay awake during the doctor's appointment and kept listing heavily to the side. She gave her doctor quite a problem as she could barely keep her eyes open long enough to finish his check up. "Now, Tsukino-chan," he began, "I heard you've been having some bizarre dreams and that they've been keeping you up at night so you can't get any sleep."

"Yes, Urawa-sensei," she murmured. (1)

"Can you tell me about these dreams?"

"Yes, Sensei," she muttered, leaning dangerously closer to the side. Her father grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake to wake her up a bit more. "Ugh...papa..."

"Tsukino-chan," her doctor started again, tapping his pen against his palm.

"Yes, Sensei?"

"I want you to tell me about these dreams you been having."

"Oh, yes. It always starts with me...sleeping in my bed...and then..."

"And then...?" he prompted as she drifted off. She shook herself and tried to sit up.

"Then I'm suddenly out of bed and floating in this big room...I see three men...they're at this computer station or something...they're talking about testing "the waves" or something. I think they're looking for something cause one of them keeps asking for updates, then one of them says "yes" and next thing I know I'm flying on this...I don't know...satellite dish? I'm riding this thing on this laser or something and I'm heading towards outer space..."

"Anything else, Tsukino-chan?"

"...Ah-huh," she yawned.

"What is it then?"

"I see this doll..."

"A doll?" her doctor asked sharing a confused look with her father.

"It's weird. One minute I'm on the satellite dish or something, riding the laser, and then all of the sudden I'm in this room...and there's all these doll things floating around...They're weird dolls, too. They look like something off an anime or something but they're all so pretty and then...this _really_ small floats over to me. It's got this white circle for a head and red button eyes with these black slits and it's all white and on it's dress is this yellow fringe and..." she rambled. "It says, "I've been waiting for you." and I start talking with it. But even then I don't know what's happening in the dream either."

"Tsukino-chan." Urawa-sensei interrupted, but she rambled on without hearing him.

"And then...there's these monsters everywhere. The little doll is in my hands and I keep running, but they're after me and the doll so I keep running. And then all of these...images...go by...and..." she stopped and landed heavily on the examination table backwards. Her father yelped and dove for his daughter as she began to slip off the table, calling for her.

"Usagi, wake up!"

"...let her sleep, Tsukino-san." her doctor spoke to relieve him. "She must be exhausted."

Kenji turned to Urawa-sensei and spoke, "Sensei, please, tell me what's wrong with my daughter!"

"I'm not quite sure...but I believe I know someone who will be able to help your daughter. I'll write you a prescription for some sedatives. It would best for her to stay home until next Monday. On Monday, I want you to come back. I will try to get in touch with my friend as see if he can come and visit her," he explained. He quickly scribbled a prescription and handed it to Kenji. "God's willing; I think he can help her."

"Thank you, Sensei," Kenji murmured, taking the prescription and slipping into his pocket as he picked his daughter up. "I'll take her home right now. Thank you for your time."

- -

Usagi was having the dream again. She had already drifted away from her bed once again and now the scene had changed. She watched in distracted fascination as the three men in pristine white lab coats checked the numerous computer screens, gauges, and tiny gadgets in the large computer council in front of them. Above the large curving council, a giant monitor screen displayed numerous graphs and streamed data. She watched as the blonde man at the right checked several gauges at once as he typed furiously. At his far left another man, a brunet, typed at a slower pace, casually glancing up to see the numerous screens once in awhile.

The last man stood a bit away from the other two reading long sheets of computer readouts, his gaze flickering back and forth between the two men before returning to the paper.

_"Any...worth reporting...ite?"_

_"No...No changes..."_

_"Zoi...?"_

_"Nope...the same, Mamoru."_

_"Damn. ...when it changes," _he said and then returned to the paper.

Several long moments passed before a loud beeping started up and a light began to flash wildly on the screen. The brunet turned to the flash and called to the men at his side. Now, their voices became clear and made sense.

_"It's happening again, Chiba-sama," _he called. The dark haired one walked over as the blond swiveled about in his chair to see them. He grinned and hooted as Mamoru stared over the brunet's shoulder.

_"We've got 'em!" _the blond cheered

_"Put a tracer on the source, Nephlite," _Mamoru decided at last_. "Perhaps we'll catch them this time."_

_"Yes, sir," _Nephlite answered. In his seat, the blond was grinning wildly and typing furiously at his keyboard.

_"We've got 'em, we've got 'em, we've got 'em-"_

_"Zoisite, if you have that much energy, put it to good use," _Mamoru sighed. Zoisite cackled and continued on, sans the chanting. A moment later Nephlite started to talk again.

_"Chiba-sama, our tracer has pinpointed the source to Japan. Some where in one of the wards of Tokyo," _Nephlite grinned_. "Looks like we did get 'em, Zoisite."_

_"That's the best we've got from one of the tracers on this source in awhile," _Mamoru murmured, a bit of a smirk tugging on his lips. Zoisite cheered loudly and spun in his chair before returning to the council.

_"I told you that my new tracers could do it, hah!" _he shouted loudly while the other two remained fixed on their work.

_"Nephlite, any word on which specific ward?" _Mamoru asked. Zoisite quickly quieted and turned to look hopefully at Nephlite.

_"..." _Nephlite stared at his computer aghast before grinning wildly._ "Y-yes, sir; Azabu, sir!"_

This sent Zoisite into a near conniption fit of happiness._ "I knew my babies could do it, woo hoo!"_

Mamoru looked up in shock before grinning._ "**Yes**," _he gasped excitedly

Suddenly, the room began to twist and warp, making Usagi frown. She had wanted to see what would happen to the three men and if they could find exactly what they were looking for. Inwardly, she almost wished they hadn't...something in her told that if they did find what the were looking for everything would change... However, she didn't have time to worry about that as suddenly she was zooming high through the air.

_"Dammit!"_

_"We're losing the signal!"_

_"Try to keep that tracer so we can find..."_ the voices trailed off and died as she was suddenly flying again.

_This_, thought Usagi, _is my **favorite** part!_ Her breath caught as she looked down. She saw the three men, Mamoru, Nephlite scurrying about, searching for something. Usagi shrugged but laughed in delight as she felt herself rocketing upward. She turned her gaze upward to see the stars—had she ever seen so many stars when she was awake?—and in the middle of the sky, a large perfect full moon hung heavily in the sky. Usagi laughed and lifted her arms up as if she could catch it.

Slowly, she stopped flying and was now floating. She started floating downward and she saw that she was in what looked like a college classroom with theater styled seating. Her feet tapped the floor and she looked about the room. It was a simple room, seating maybe twenty, five per row. However, the interesting part was the bizarre dolls hovering about the room.

The dolls were not like china dolls, or plastic figures. All of them with circular heads and bell skirts in somewhat bland colorings. They came in varying sizes and colors. There were eight dolls all together floating about. Three extras sat on the long desktop of the first row.

One was the largest of all the dolls assembled, standing a foot high. It was mainly yellow, accented in reds and oranges. It had black horizontal slits on its red eyes. It looked very curious as it was shining very brightly. _"That's the Sun Doll. Its master lives on in it. It's not the one you're looking for.'_

Next to it, a very sad looking doll sat on its side, a large crack running through it. It was once probably a very beautiful doll, with green as the main color and blues and browns for accents, but now a dim grey shadow muted the colors. _"That is the Earth Doll. Its master has died too, but it will take no other. It broke as its master died."_

Last of all on the farthest right, the smallest doll of all was standing proudly, arms pinned to the sides. It was pretty white doll with red circles for eyes and black slits. It was accented in yellow and stood about three inches high. _"Hello, Usagi. I've been waiting for you."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"I am..."_

Suddenly, the classroom setting fell away. The air around them took on a sickly green and purple color. In the thick mists, eyes gleamed out and dark whispers were heard. Usagi shuddered, terrified despite having the same dream for the last two months-the voices sounded like nothing she had ever heard before in her life. She reached out and took the small doll in her hands, turning and looking for the way out.

_"Quick, we have to run, Usagi!"_

_"Alright,"_ she squeaked and ran blindly, hoping that she wouldn't run into the monsters in the mists. She ran hard, looking every which way for the exit. _"What are we going to do? Someone, help us!"_

_"No can help us, Usagi, you must-"_

"USAGI-CHAN!"

"_Ack_," she yelped and jumped from bed. Usagi's mother, Ikuko, gasped and gathered her daughter up in her arms. "Mama," Usagi sobbed, still feeling the terror and despair from the dream. She broke down into hysterical tears and sobbed into her mother's shoulder.

"_That dream _again, Usagi-chan?" asked Ikuko softly. Usagi's single dream was becoming such a problem that it was now always referred to as _that dream_. For the last two months, Usagi was subjected to it nightly. Already after only taking her medication for fourth time since she had gotten it, her dreams had returned. Ikuko sighed and thanked the gods that Usagi's appointment would be later that day.

It took nearly ten minutes for Usagi to calm down. Whenever Usagi had had _that dream, _she would be unable to sleep again for the night. Only in the day could Usagi escape her dream so whenever she woke up, Ikuko would fix her daughter tea and something hot to eat. That Monday morning, Ikuko talked her daughter down the stairs and sat her in a chair as she cooked.

Nearly an hour later, Kenji came down and patted his daughter shoulder as he collected his coffee from his wife. "Ready to go, Usagi-chan?"

"Hmm?" Usagi murmured. Kenji sighed and drank his coffee.

"For your doctor's appointment. It's this morning at eight," he answered and watched as she became a bit more animated when she realized that if she didn't hurry, she'd be late. He smiled fondly as she tore up the stairs-only at such moments, did it appear that his old daughter was back. He then frowned and kept a close eye on her as she stumbled a bit up the stairs-Usagi had to be watched now to make sure she didn't hurt herself as she raced around in case she collapsed. He felt Ikuko's warm hand on his shoulder and sighed. "How's Shingo?"

"He's at his friend's house again," she murmured. After Usagi's nightly dreams, she awoke screaming and thrashing so, Shingo complained of never getting enough sleep himself. Either he now slept in one of the rooms where he couldn't hear his sister or he spent the night at a friend's house.

"Hopefully, Ikuko, this man Urawa-sensei knows will able to help Usagi."

"I hope so, dear."

---------------

It was a tricky business, helping Usagi into the doctor's office and then into an examination room waiting for the doctor. Finally, Urawa-sensei appeared and at his heels was a young man with curly strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. Usagi took a single look at him and smiled.

"It's you," she murmured, shocking Zoisite, Kenji, and Urawa-sensei before promptly fainting.

**And that's all for the first chapter! We'll get to see more of what's really happening to Usagi in the next chapter! Later.**

**(1) Both doctors and teachers are referred to as 'sensei' in Japan.**


	3. The Meeting

**Beta read by whitey9h-lavish this person with your love because hopefully they'll help me improve and they make this so much understandable by pointing out a problem. Love you, lots and lots.**

**Hee, looking closer at the guidelines for stories...I realize I'm not supposed to respond to you here. Would you guys like me to make a forum for my stories to talk to me and ask questions?**

---------------

It took quite a bit to wake Usagi up, but then after Zoisite and Urawa-sensei managed it they had to fight to keep her awake as she constantly fell into a doze. Urawa-sensei half gave up trying to wake her up but Zoisite insisted, saying he needed to ask her some questions.

"Tsukino-san, wake up," Zoisite urged. "Come on, answer a few questions and you can sleep **all** you want later."

She groaned as she fought to keep her eyes open. "...'kay...'m wake."

"Alright, close enough," he agreed with a shrug and held her arms to keep her upright. "Tsukino-san, Urawa-sensei said you been having weird dreams. Can you tell me about these dreams?"

For a long moment, she was silent and he thought she had fallen back asleep but she mumbled an answer. "You were there."

Zoisite blinked and pulled out a small notebook and a pen and began to jot down notes, one hand firmly holding her upright. "Okay, can you go on, Tsukino-san? Who else was there?"

"Nephlite...Mamoru..." she recalled their names vaguely. Zoisite continued to jot notes. "...and...the doll..."

Zoisite lifted his pen up for a moment and fixed his stare at her. He paused and licked his lips nervously before he went on. "Usagi, tell me about the doll."

"The little white doll..." she answered and Zoisite's eyes widened and he began to write at a furious pace. She thought hard to remember its name-the doll never got the chance to say its name but she knew this somehow... "...Moon doll." she gasped finally. Zoisite stopped mid-word and looked carefully at her, mouth agape.

"Tsukino-san...did the doll tell you its name?" he gasped finally.

"No..." she answered, feeling sleep drift over her.

"Then how...?"

"I...just...know," she answered and with that, she fell asleep and flopped onto the examination table. Zoisite sat there a moment before capping his pen and replacing it and the notebook back into the breast pocket of his leather coat. He sat there a moment before he began to fish around in his pockets searching for something as he turned to Kenji.

"Tsukino-san, I would like to take your daughter in and do a few tests," he told him as he finally retrieved his cell phone from his left pocket. Kenji looked at the man warily.

"What kind of tests?"

"Tests will determine whether or not she is..." he stopped and blinked realizing Urawa-sensei was still there. "Excuse me, Sensei, but may I have a moment alone with Tsukino-san?" Urawa-sensei turned bright red, angered that he was being forced out of his own examination room but left without a fuss. As soon as he shut the door, Zoisite turned to Kenji. "I'm sorry, I forget no one quite knows about us yet." he took off his reading glasses and pulled out a business card from his breast pocket, presenting it to Kenji, who accepted it warily. On it, it read:

_Midorino Kanaye,_

_Technological Expert and Government employee of the SENSHI Projection_

"Uh, heh, I don't usually do this-it's really Keisuke's job-so bare with me, okay?" he said as he settled down to explain. "Your daughter's dreams are signs-nothing like the end of the world signs. The people in the dreams she's been talking about-that's us. Me, and my co-workers. We've been searching for her." He stopped and his face became pinched. "That sounded horrible-I'll never underestimate Nephlite's job again. Okay, forget that-you ask questions, I'll answer them."

Kenji sat there a moment, staring at Zoisite like he had two heads. "...what is happening to my daughter?"

"Ah, alright, good question." Zoisite remarked, rubbing his hands together. "You're daughter has been chosen as a candidate of the MOON SENSHI."

Kenji stared at him before asking his next question. "...well, what's the MOON SENSHI?"

"The MOON SENSHI is a..." Zoisite stopped and scrunched his face. "No, no, I'm only going to screw this up-hold on. I'll get Keisuke on the phone and he'll straighten you out," he declared, flipping his phone open and dialing rapidly. Kenji stared in him in muted shock as he began to talk with someone on the phone. "Yeah, get me Keisuke-don't give me lip Emerald, I want to speak with him _now_. I don't care, interrupt the damn meeting-good. ...Keisuke, we've found her. Yes, in Azabu. I'm talking to her father-stop laughing, you have to talk to him. ...well, I love you too." he handed the phone to Kenji. "Here you go."

Kenji stared at the phone a moment before reaching over and putting it to his ear. "Hello? ...My name is Tsukino Kenji...yes, my daughter...Usagi. ...ah, yes... She's been having strange dreams...um," he checked Zoisite card quickly. "Zoisite said she had been seeing you all in the dream...yes, that it's it. You can help! Yes, yes-of course, we'd like to settle this as soon as possible! Ah...I believe my wife and I can make room to meet you at our house anytime. ...tomorrow night? Yes, if this will help Usagi. I'll give the address right now- ...uh, let me find my pen—" Zoisite, who had been sitting, examining his nails, offered up his pen to him. Kenji nodded warily, took it, and began to write on the back of the card. "Thank you...thank you. Yes, I'll give you the address..."

Zoisite tuned out the rest of the conversation as soon as Kenji turned over his pen to him. He slipped it back into his pocket and let his eyes wander over to the face of the young girl beside him. She had large purple bags beneath her eyes and she was rather pale-she must have been experiencing the dreams for a while now to do this much to such a young woman. He shook his head and turned back to Kenji just to hear the end of the conversation.

"Yes, yes, thank you so much-yes, thank you. Good bye." He paused for a moment until he found the "END" button and pressed it then returned it to Zoisite.

"So, Keisuke has made an appointment to get this all settled out then?" Zoisite asked cheerfully. "Good, I never was good at explaining this. Alright, Urawa-sensei mentioned a prescription for sedatives?"

"Yes, he-"

"Good. Double it." he said, bouncing up to his feet ignoring Kenji's face paling in shock.

"But-"

"Don't worry—this has happened before and she'll be able to handle it. If you're worried just have her take three of those pills," he said, moving his stool away from the bed. "Do you want me to get help to get her out to the car, 'cause I'm doubting she's going to be waking up soon."

Kenji stared at him and nodded. For a moment, Zoisite tapped his chin thinking before shrugging.

"How about we each grab an arm and hoist her out till we get to the car at least?" he thought aloud. Kenji nodded slowly before helping him get his daughter upright—this man was more than strange but his colleague had mentioned that his friend had always been a little eccentric but it was nothing to worry over. He and Zoisite managed to get Usagi out to the car and get her in with only slight difficulty. Zoisite turned to him and grinned. "Ah, well, Keisuke will be talking to you later about this. Well, if you need to get in touch with us, and can't reach Keisuke, my number is also on the card." He bowed quickly and turned about heading to his own car.

Kenji shook his head at the bizarre man. However, if it helped his daughter...well, he'd do it. He got into his car and began to make his way home.

---------------

"I never felt more stupid in my life!" Zoisite shouted, flinging himself into a chair. Nephlite rolled his eyes at him. He sat down into the chair next to him and handed him an orange soda.

"You felt stupid? Good lord, Zoisite, you interrupted me in the middle of a meeting with the General. To talk with a **very** concerned parent. I had to reassure him you weren't a loon in front of our boss. Chiba-sama was turning weird colors." he shook his head at his younger friend. "Just be glad Chiba-sama has a father with so much political power, otherwise we'd be out of a job."

Zoisite snorted through a flush and took a deep swig of the soda. "Mamoru's going to be just _rosy _if he's going to have to speak with his father again. Do you remember last time?"

"How could I forget—the computer still glitches at times and his chair can't roll anywhere," Nephlite snorted as he sipped his grape soda. "So now I have to go to these people's house and explain to them that their daughter may just be a warrior destined to fight monsters in another plane of existence and possible die there. You like to make things difficult for me, don't you, Zoisite?"

Zoisite turned and stuck his tongue out at him. "Shut up! It's not even my job as technical director to go meet the parents-that's why you're the communications director. Why can't we get one of the secretaries to go meet the folks, anyway?" he grumbled, sulking further.

Nephlite raised a brow at his friend. "Do you imagine someone like Emerald, going and talking to the family?" Zoisite shuddered at the thought. "Exactly—I couldn't go today because Chiba-sama needed me here during the base inspection."

Zoisite blinked and turned to him. "Why do you call Mamoru Chiba-sama? It's not like he was ahead of us in the academy," he snorted.

"Force of habit," Nephlite answered. "Now, tell me about the girl."

"Hmm...5'2'', 5'3'' at most. Blonde, blue eyes. She's just like some girl you meet on the street-pert nose, big eyes, the works. Funny hairstyle-got pigtails and these balls on her head."

"Sounds like odangos." Nephlite and Zoisite turned their heads to see Mamoru walk in with an unpleased expression on his face. "So Zoisite, who is this odango atama and was it so important to interrupt the meeting this morning with the General?"

Zoisite flinched. "Had to suck up to your dad again, didn't you?"

Mamoru glared at him. "You know very well I hate asking my father for favors-"

"-since he's the one who got you stuck here in the first place.-" Zoisite added.

"-and I find it very annoying to have to call him on one of his days off just for one of those favors."

Zoisite flinched again and Nephlite took a deep swig of his soda. "He's making you go to family dinner again, isn't he?"

"Well, you did ask him for a favor," Nephlite added.

"That's beside the point!" Mamoru groaned, flopping into a chair, kneading his temples. "I'm going to have a head full of grey hair by thirty like my father, I know I will." he muttered.

"I thought you get grey hair from your mother?" Nephlite asked to Zoisite.

Zoisite shook his head. "Nah, you go bald because of your mother."

"Sure?"

"Pretty sure." Zoisite replied calmly. Mamoru tossed his hands up into the air. After a moment or so, he rooted his hand through his pocket and handed some change to Nephlite at his side.

"Get me a soda?" he asked tiredly.

"What flavor?" Nephlite asked as he sat up.

"Anything not diet-root beer."

---------------

Nephlite looked a his piece of paper once more, checking to make sure he had the right address one last time before ringing the doorbell. Mamoru at his side straightened his tie with a professional eye for detail. Neither had to wait long as a moment later a woman appeared at the door, smiling at both of them. "Ah, are you the gentlemen here about my daughter's condition?"

Mamoru blinked and looked at Nephlite who shrugged. Mamoru turned back to the mother of the girl and nodded. "Yes, ma'am, we can to talk to you about that."

"Well, come in, come in! You don't have to stand out there all night." she ushered them in, gesturing them forward with a wave of her hand. They stepped into the house and removed their shoes before she showed them to the living room. Sitting in front of the TV were a young boy and a teenaged girl playing a video game together. The young boy had dirty blonde hair and looked over his shoulder to stare at them a moment before elbowing the girl in the side. She turned and Mamoru and Nephlite recognized her instantly from Zoisite's description.

_I had just been joking about the odango atama thing, but it looks like I was right after all,_ Mamoru thought as he caught sight of her hairdo. For having very little sleep until recently, she looked partially recovered—Zoisite had been right about the dosage he'd prescribed apparently as the bags beneath her eyes weren't very large and her face had revived some of its color.

"Please sit down while I go get you some tea," her mother told them gesturing to the couch. "Shingo," she called to the boy. "Will you go get your father? Usagi, why don't you come sit down with these men?" she said as she left the room. Shingo turned off the game and went out to go get his father. Mamoru stared at Usagi who was staring at both of them with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Hello, Tsukino-san," Nephlite greeted her.

"Nice to meet you, Tsukino-san," Mamoru added.

Usagi stared at them a moment before speaking. "You're really here, right? I'm not dreaming again?" She had been sitting on her knees before and she now rose up a little higher still kneeling on the floor. "You've come...you'll really tell me what's going on?"

Mamoru blinked before walking over to her. She stared up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. Quietly he offered his hand to her to help her off the floor. "Yes, Tsukino-san, we have come to explain to you what's been happening and what _will _happen." She stared at him a moment before she let him pull her up off the floor. She nodded and stumbled over to a chair.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment before she spoke again. "You're Nephlite and Mamoru, right?"

They blinked and Nephlite nodded. "Yes, Tsukino-san-"

"Usagi. Tsukino-san makes me feel like your talking to my parents," she said quickly.

"-Usagi-san. My name is actually Yamazaki Keisuke, but my code name is Nephlite. This, at my side, is my boss, Chiba Mamoru-sama."

"Chiba-sama..." she echoed. Mamoru lifted a brow. "You call him Chiba-sama but Zoisite calls him Mamoru!" Mamoru sat back, a little perturbed the girl knew that—the other candidates they had found had shown no sign of knowing their names but each of the MOON candidates had recognized them. "My father said that his card says Midorino Kanaye on it—is Zoisite his code name too?"

"...yes, it is." Mamoru answered.

"But...what's your code name?" she asked him curiously.

"Endymion." he answered. She blinked as if she was confused but they were saved for any more questions when her parents walked in, her mother carrying at tray of teacups. Usagi's mother, Ikuko Mamoru finally remembered, placed cups for each of them in front of them and then sat down with her husband in the love seat on the other side of the coffee table. "Good evening, Tsukino-san."

"Good evening." Kenji returned, taking his teacup in hand. "Excuse me, but I didn't quite catch your names..."

"Chiba Mamoru," Mamoru answered, and then he gestured to Nephlite. "This is my subordinate, Yamazaki Keisuke. I believe you two talked on the phone."

For a moment, Kenji simply stared them. "...sub-subordinate? …Ah, yes, we did speak already." Mamoru fought not to roll his eyes—yet another person who thought he was too young to be Base Director. Usagi had also caught the stutter while her mother reached over and patted her husband's hand thoughtfully as he fought not to gape.

"Then you already understand quite a bit of what's been happening." Nephlite spoke. "I believe my colleague mentioned something about the MOON SENSHI to you?"

"...MOON SENSHI..." Usagi echoed as if caught up in a reverie. Usagi's parents stared at her a moment before answering.

"Yes, Midorino-san mentioned something about a senshi," Kenji answered.

"So I take it as he didn't bother to explain himself?" Nephlite asked and Kenji nodded. "Figures. ...Tsukino-san, you wouldn't happen to be a science fiction fan, would you?"

Kenji blinked, taken aback by the question. "...ah, yes, I read and watch it every now and then..."

"Then try and bear with me a moment. I suppose that in your shows and books, the writers make mention of there being more than one universe-or perhaps better worded as another dimension." he said. "Keep that idea in mind as I tell you this next part. What if I were to tell you that those writers weren't so far off in the idea? I'm not saying there's little green men running around us or that there's multiple yous running about, but the idea that there is _this _plane of existence and others."(1)

"You mean," Ikuko started, "like a heaven?"

"Actually that's not far off." Mamoru answered. "But think of it as a more spiritual plane—a world of spirits and monsters."

"Are you saying-" Kenji started, flabbergasted. "Are you insinuating that my daughter has being entering another realm of existence?"

"Yes-but you can ask Usagi-san herself if you don't believe us." he answered turning to Usagi. Her parents gaped and turned to their daughter. She sat completely still, eyes glazed over. "You know it's true then, Usagi-san?"

Usagi sat there a moment before coming to herself. "BETA! That's it! I know it is! Is that where I've been going to each night-the ...BETA-verse?"

"Beta?" Kenji asked, confused.

"Beta is the second letter in the Greek alphabet. We us the term ALPHA-verse to describe this dimension and BETA-verse to described the one where Usagi's been visiting." Nephlite answered. "The BETA-verse is like another dimension, parallel to our own."

"How are we supposed to know that this is the truth?" Kenji asked warily.

"Your daughter is proof enough. She's been entering the BETA-verse for the last...two months but if you desire more proof I suggest taking a look at our base's facilities," Nephlite answered.

Ikuko turned and shared a worried look with her husband. "And...what will happen to Usagi?"

Mamoru took a moment before answering. "We'd like to run some tests. You see there have been thirteen more cases like Usagi in Asia. About two hundred total world wide. What Usagi _has_ is not an illness. Usagi is a candidate for the MOON SENSHI. We would like to determine whether or not she IS the MOON SENSHI or just another candidate."

"And...what is the MOON SENSHI?" Ikuko asked. Mamoru sighed and reached into the briefcase at his feet. He withdrew several papers with a similar drawing on each on as he laid them out in front of them. Usagi gasped as she recognized the doll scrawled and scribbled on each of the papers.

"This is the MOON SENSHI doll, the LUNA doll. Each candidate identifies this doll easily. This doll will determine who will be the next MOON SENSHI." he said sitting back, allowing Nephlite to pick up where he left off.

"The MOON SENSHI is exactly what it sounds like—a warrior. The MOON SENSHI is a warrior who enters the BETA-verse to battle these monsters. There are already eight more of these SENSHI but the MOON SENSHI is the only one left unfilled." Nephlite answered.

"But ...the EARTH and SUN dolls?" Usagi asked.

Nephlite and Mamoru were silent for a moment. Mamoru was the one who answered her. "The EARTH and SUN SENSHI died shortly after becoming the SENSHI. In Siberia, the EARTH SENSHI died two years ago, shortly after the beginning of the program. The SUN SENSHI was from Kenya. She died three months after the EARTH SENSHI."

"No!" Ikuko gasped, gathering up Usagi in her arms.

"Forget it!" Kenji snapped. "NO! I won't allow my daughter to enter such a dangerous a thing-"

"The SUN SENSHI..." Usagi began. "LUNA doll said she lived on in the SUN doll."

"The HELIOS doll." Mamoru answered gasping. He turned to Nephlite with wide eyes. Nephlite nodded. "Usagi, the LUNA doll told you this?"

"Yes, she said that its master lived on in it. The EARTH doll was broken." she said quietly. She stood up quickly, rising from her mother's embrace. "When do I leave?"

"Usagi!" Ikuko gasped.

"USAGI!" Kenji shouted in shock. "No! You'll only get hurt-"

"She's waiting for me, papa!" she snapped back.

"Usagi?" Ikuko asked.

"Usagi-san..." Mamoru began. "Who's waiting for you?"

"LUNA! She's waiting for me and I know she's in trouble! I can't turn my back and leave her there!" she answered in fervor. "I have to go, I can't let her go, she's counting on me!"

There was a silence after that, punctuated by Ikuko's sobs. Mamoru turned to Nephlite and nodded. He got up and turned to Usagi. "Usagi-san, this will be dangerous. You must consider what will happen if-"

"I don't care! I need to get to LUNA and I won't let anyone stop me!" she thundered, stomping her foot to prove her point.

Nephlite chuckled and sighed at her enthusiasm, reaching into his coat to extract his cell phone. Mamoru smirked and nodded. "Spoken like a true SENSHI. Usagi-san, you understand nothing will be the same?"

Usagi faltered for a moment looking to her parents. Ikuko went and sat by her husband's side but smiled and nodded to her. Usagi nodded in return and turned back to Mamoru. "You got it! I'm coming whether you like it or not, Chiba-san!"

Mamoru nodded and grinned. "Good to hear." He stuck his hand out to her. "Welcome aboard, MOON candidate Usagi."

She smiled at him a moment and shook his hand firmly. "Thank you, Chiba-san!"

- -

(1) "Multiple yous"-whitey9h mentioned this sounded confusing. It's an idea of multiple universe having different but similar people and places. For some of us, think of Sliders. Perhaps a more recent example would be The One, were there multiple versions of everyone in different dimensions. The BETA-verse is another, but parallel dimension to ours.


	4. The Tour

"Emerald, I know you stole my pen again!" shouted Zoisite waltzing up to Emerald's, the secretary, desk. She popped her gum, filed her nails, and for the most part ignored him.

"Zoi, I didn't steal your pen." she snapped, checking her nails. She blew on them and then went back to typing on her computer. Zoisite huffed at her and took a pen from her pen cup sitting next to her. She gasped and shouted at him. "Zoi, you dick! Damn it, give that back! I didn't take you pen and you know it, you stupid cow! Give me it back!"

"Oh, and how do I know that?" he stuck his tongue out at her, pocketing the pen. "I'm keeping this as a hostage."

"Damn it, Zoi!"

Zoisite blinked and turned as he heard the electronic door swing open to the lobby as his boss and the Tsukino family entered the MOON SENSHI base compound. He stood up next to Emerald's desk. Emerald blinked and swung back into her seat as she coldly viewed the new comers. Zoisite spotted Mamoru and Nephlite leading the Tsukinos, he recognized Kenji and Usagi easily and hazarded a guess that the other two were Tsukino Ikuko and Usagi's brother, Tsukino Shingo that the computer search had brought up.

The entire family stared wide eyed at the room as if expecting to see gadgets and weapons spilling out onto the floor. For the most part the lobby was a very regular looking room-it was about 40 ft by 40 ft room, complete with uncomfortably cushioned chairs, coffee tables, out of date magazines with all the coupons cut out-courtesy of Emerald, and a water dispenser by the wall near Emerald's desk. It had white walls, off white tiles punctuated by black, and had maroon carpets by the coffee table to accent the maroon chairs. If it hadn't been for the fact that is was twenty feet below ground it looked like a business building's lobby.

Zoisite grinned-he knew all the real exciting stuff was under this floor. "Hello, folks! Mamoru, Nephlite." he nodded at them.

Usagi grinned at him. "Zoisite-kun!"

His grin widened. "Ah, you remember me! I knew I liked you." Ikuko giggled and Usagi laughed while Kenji turned red with a rage. _Uh oh, overprotective papa! Cover ass, cover ass!_ "Too bad you're too young for me. So, Mamoru, are you giving them the tour?"

"Actually, Zoisite, I was thinking you could handle that." said Mamoru as he walked over to Emerald as Zoisite squawked. "Any messages, Emerald-san?"

"Your father called-don't bother trying wriggle out of family dinner, your sister's making an appearance." she said looking at her notes. Mamoru raised his brows and whistled.

"Wow, didn't see that coming." he muttered shaking his head.

Zoisite heard Usagi speaking to Nephlite. "Doesn't Chiba-san see his sister often?" she whispered. He decided to answer for Nephlite.

"Actually," he whispered to her. "Seiya's a busy girl and only has so much time with her family. You know her, she's really popular-Seiya Kou of the Three Lights."

"Seiya of the Three Lights!" gasped Usagi. "No _way!_ She's his sister!"

"Way." he grinned at her. "Ask Mamoru to get her autograph for you later." He grinned at the rest of them and leaned back. "Alright since Mamoru isn't coming, how about you, Nephie?"

Nephlite rolled his eyes and turned back to the Tsukinos. "Right this way, please." he directed them to the elevator at the back of the room. Zoisite turned back to Mamoru and shouted to him.

"Hey, Mamoru, coming with or what!"

Mamoru rolled his eyes at him. "I'll take the stairs."

"Thirteen floors down?" he sighed and shook his head at him. "Alright then, let's head down to the cafeteria. It's only two floors below us and the only place where nonpersonal are supposed to go besides the first floor beneath us."

"What's right beneath us?" asked Shingo as they pilled into the elevator and Nephlite pushed "3".

"Administration. Just a bunch of guys in suits making sure no one exposes us." Zoisite answered. "Hope you're hungry cause the cafe should have breakfast going still. They got good coffee, too."

"Its instant coffee." muttered Nephlite correcting him. Zoisite shrugged.

"Ignore him-he likes coffee shop coffee more." he told them. "Usagi-chan, if you join us as the MOON SENSHI, you'll eat here every day. They serve breakfast till eleven, then lunch til four, and then they start serving dinner. Hope you like veggies cause that's what will be part of your diet as long as you're here." Ikuko beamed knowing her daughter was going to get a good nutrition while Usagi groaned. "And they make a smashing chocolate cake after dinner so just eat the veggies and you get chocolate before bed." Ikuko shook her head as Usagi cheered.

There was a loud ping and the door slid open. Inside, a 20 by 20 room held four long tables. To the sides of the room there was a vending machine and a coffee canteen with a water dispenser next to it; on the other side of the room there was a café counter where four chefs wandered about.

"Usagi-chan, come on, I want you to meet four of the most wonderful women here." called Zoisite hurrying her to the chefs, who laughed as they heard him. Usagi saw they were four women in the twenties, all of them lovely. "May I introduce you to the lovely head chef, Prisma-sama. Girls this is Usagi-chan."

Prisma smiled and nodded to her. "Pleasure to meet you, Usagi-san."

"Hello, Prisma-san." she smiled to her.

"Prisma-sama is married to Sapphire-san, one of the suits upstairs I mentioned." explained Zoisite.

"Zoi-kun, don't call Sapphire-kun a suit!" exclaimed another one of other women, shaking a ladle at him.

"Ha! Usagi-chan, this the youngest of the sisters-by the way they're all sisters!-Catzy-sama." he introduced her. "She's unattached though I doubt Tiger's Eye will let that remain like that long!"

Catzy flushed but waved to Usagi with a wide smile. "Hello, Usagi-chan, come by after dinner and I'll hook you up with a slice of my famous chocolate cake okay?"

"Yay, thank you, Catzy-san!"

"Catzy-chan, Usagi-chan, call me Catzy-chan!" laughed Catzy. "I'm too young to me called "san" yet!"

"And this, Usagi-chan, is Avery-sama. She's second oldest and is married to Rubeus-san, another of the suits upstairs."

"Oh, you!" scolded Catzy shaking the ladle while Avery chuckled and shook Usagi's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Usagi-chan." greeted Avery.

"Thank you, Avery-san."

"Oh, please, I don't want to be called that." laughed Avery.

"Me neither!" laughed the last sister. She reached over the glass and shook Usagi's hand. "Bertie, before Zoi-kun can embarrass me! Bertie-chan if you please! And before Zoi-kun tells you any wild stories, I'm engaged to Hawk's Eye, one of technicians." she laughed.

"Thank you, Bertie-chan!" she greeted her.

"Usagi-chan, these lovely women are the chefs here at the base and they serve all the meals. These women will be taking orders directly from the physicians as to what you'll need for a diet." explained Zoisite.

"Don't worry, Usagi-chan, no matter the diet, we'll make sure you'll love the food, okay?" cheered Catzy. Usagi and Ikuko grinned while Kenji nodded-they maybe letting their daughter do this but they weren't doing it without making sure she was going to be healthy. "Are you guys hungry or will you guys be continuing on the tour, then?" she asked grinning at them.

"Sorry, ladies, but we'll have to be taking them along now." spoke Nephlite. "Though if you have some of your special coffee, Bertie-san..."

"One hot cup coming right up!" answered Bertie turning about and heading to a steaming coffee pot before pouring it into a mug and handing it over to him which he took gratefully.

"Thank you, Bertie-san. Would any of you like some coffee?" he asked turning to them. Kenji ended up taking a cup of the coffee before they all returned to the elevator. Catzy made sure to call to them before the doors shut.

"Come back and get something to eat after the tour, okay!" she shouted. Usagi grinned and waved.

Zoisite grinned at all of them before pressing a button reading "14". "So, Usagi-chan, how about we cut straight to the chase and head to the place where you'll be entering the BETA-verse, eh?"

Usagi's face became serious and she nodded to him. He smiled reassuringly to her family as the elevator began it's descent. They waited a few moments til the elevator pinged and the doors opened. Instead of opening to a room like before, it opened to a plain white hallway. There were three doors, one labeled with a feminine symbol and another with a masculine and then the last door read on slate "CONTROL ROOM".

"Alright, Usagi-chan those rooms right there are locker rooms. You'll suit up there-there's also a bathroom and shower in there if you need it." explained Zoisite.

Nephlite turned and pointed to the remaining door. "That, Usagi-san, is the Control room like it says. In there, we keep precise readings of your health and whatever happens to you in the BETA-verse." he explained and walked to the door. He took off a clip on the lapel of his lab coat, which he had put on in the elevator, and swiped it through a key lock then typed in a code. He gestured to them to follow. "You'll get your own id card and the code later, but first come in."

They entered the room. Shingo was instantly enthralled by the large computer council and it's multiple screens. Kenji and Ikuko raised brows at the dark room while Nephlite flipped a switch and the room became brighter. Usagi stood in the middle of the room taking it all in. Zoisite walked in behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Feel familiar, Usagi-chan?" he asked as she peered about.

"This is..." she trailed off, examining everything. "It's exactly the same! I saw this place in my dreams!"

"Many of the SENSHI candidates report seeing this room as well." answered Nephlite. "Come over here, Usagi-san, this is the important part." Usagi obeyed walking quickly over. "Zoisite, the lights." Zoisite nodded and flipped the switch back off. Nephlite pressed a button and the computers booted up, components whirring about and humming. The screens came to life and many of the monitors began to display information. "This computer council gauges all of your health on it's monitors. But here-" he flipped a switch and the main monitor glowed into life. He pressed another button and the scene changed.

It revealed a chair, in a white room. It was heavily padded in black with long cables attached to it. The room itself was harsh in relief to the chair with white metal sheets lining it. More black cables were attached to the chair, dragged out on the floor. Above the chair, a large headset with a red visor hung. Nephlite pointed everything out to her explaining the meaning and cause for it to be there.

"That Usagi-san, is what we call the dive chair. You will sit in while we hook you up to the system to monitor you. We then clear out of the room and you place that headset on. The headset is called a diving tech. visor. It allows you to enter the BETA-verse." he explained.

"While we sit up here and check up on you to make sure everything's going to plan. And if it isn't, we'll log you out manually. We are able to communicate to you no matter where you are in the BETA-verse." explained Zoisite, leaning against the council. "Only you and two start up technicians go into that room to help you enter the BETA-verse. We'll give you log in and log out codes later."

Usagi stood staring at the chair and then turned back to Nephlite. "Can I go inside?"

"Usagi..." started Ikuko. Zoisite raised his hand and stopped her.

"It's a valid question." he then turned back to her. "Usagi-chan, you'll have to wait a little longer-we want to run some test then we'll get you started by sending you into the BETA-verse later this afternoon."

"This afternoon?" echoed Ikuko worried.

Kenji put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "We knew it would be happening, dear." he then turned back to Zoisite and Nephlite. "Will be able to see her when she first...dives then?"

"Yes." answered Nephlite. Zoisite bounded on his heels.

"Come along then! It's time you saw the place you'll be staying as long as you're here then, Usagi-chan!" he said. Usagi brightened and nodded following them out to the elevator. Zoisite grinned at them and pressed "7". Again when the elevator stopped and pinged, sliding the doors open, it revealed a short hall this time with two doors with another masculine and feminine symbol on them. Zoisite and gestured to the door. "Well, Usagi-chan you first."

Usagi hesitated a moment but then let the door swing open.

POP! POP! POP!

"Welcome, Tsukino-san!" chorused a group. Usagi gasped as she realized, fifteen other people were in a barracks like room holding party confetti poppers and laughing.

"Usagi-chan, I'd like you to meet the fifteen other MOON SENSHI candidates." introduced Zoisite. A loud chorus of welcomes came forth and Usagi beamed. "Most of them have only been here a month or two but they can tell that themselves." Usagi smiled to her parents and walked further into the room. A young girl with red wavy hair stepped up first.

"Hey, my name's Naru." she started sticking her hand out. Another girl, this time with long blue hair leaned over to Usagi.

"She's from Osaka, that's where she got the accent."

"Fish Eye-chan!" snapped Naru, shaking her finger at her. "You promised not to interrupt!"

Fish Eye sighed and leaned away. "Alright, alright, but it's true anyway." she said before she turned to Usagi again. "She's been here for a little less the two months." she continued, ignoring Naru's exasperated sigh. "But continuing on-" she stuck her hand out Usagi which Usagi shook. "My codename's Fish Eye and I'd preferred to be called that. I've been here a month and a half, and I'm a Tokyo girl myself."

"I'm Tsukino Usagi. I'm from Tokyo too!" laughed Usagi.

"Really?" grinned Naru.

"Which ward?" asked Fish Eye.

"Azabu." she answered.

"Right, that's cool. I'm from Shibuya." said Fish Eye before turning back to the other people behind her. "Alright, now these guys," she said, pointing to the men behind her, "are the only male candidates for the MOON SENSHI. They are Umino-kun," she pointed to the one with glasses, "Urawa Ryo-kun," she pointed to the next young man who gave her a shy wave, "Alan-kun," the next young man nodded to her, "And least of all, Diamond." she finished with a roll of her eyes.

Diamond reached out and took Usagi's hand, placing a kiss on it. "I extend to you my _warmest _welcome."

"Ah-HEM." growled Kenji, glaring at the older man holding his daughter's hand. Usagi, who was already blushing, flushed deeply and took back her hand before her father did anything...damaging to the man.

"I'm Ann." declared another girl walking up to her and sticking her hand out. Usagi shook hands with her and she continued talking. "I'm Alan's fiancee, so no funny business." Usagi blinked, a bit unnerved and nodding.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." she replied, feeling a bit out of place. Fish Eye continued.

"And over there is Nephellania-chan-" a young woman looked up from her compact's mirror as she applied make-up to her face.

"Never use my make-up with out my permission or you're dead." she exclaimed, glaring at four young teenaged girls slightly younger than Usagi at her side. The four began to whistle innocently.

"And there the quartet-Ceres-chan," a serene looking girl with pink hair nodded to her, "Vesta-chan," a red-head grinned up at her, "Juno-chan," a serious looking girl with green hair nodded to her, "and Pallas-chan." the last was a young girl with blue who waved enthusiastically.

"They stole Nephellania-chan's make-up this morning and smeared it over their faces like war paint." whispered Naru. "Never call Nephellania-chan Nephie, okay? She hates it-that it confuses Nephlite-san if you say it around both of them." Nephlite, who heard, rolled his eyes and went back to his coffee. "Eep! Sorry, Nephlite-san."

Fish Eye continued on with the introductions. "And other there is the resident pain in the neck, Beryl-"

"WHY YOU-!" screeched the red head, fingers reaching for her as if to choke the life out of her.

"What, Beryl's stolen Emerald's job?" sniggered Zoisite. "Cause if she did, I need more pens-"

"Shut up, you twit!"

"Moving on," began Fish Eye. "We have the last of our group-Kakyuu-san," she said nodding to a pretty red headed woman, "and Chibi Chibi-chan." From behind Kakyuu's skirt a young girl maybe three or four years old peeked out. Usagi gasped to see such a young girl there. For a minute the little girl stayed behind Kakyuu before quickly waltzing over to Usagi and lifting her arms up in the universal "pick me up" gesture. Usagi picked her up and smiled at the shy little girl who quickly buried her head in Usagi's shoulder. "Well, she warmed up to you fast!"

"How old is she?" asked Ikuko looking over her daughter's shoulder at the small little girl.

"She's tiny!" remarked Shingo. "How come she's here?"

"Chibi Chibi-chan is about three years old." answered Nephlite. "She came to us about a month ago, having similar dreams as Usagi-san. She the youngest SENSHI candidate beating out the SATURN SENSHI by nearly seven years. The SATURN SENSHI happens to be twelve now-she was ten when she joined the project, in case you're wondering."

"And that concludes the grand tour!" proclaimed Zoisite. "Usagi-chan, you'll be showed more later but right now, how about we break for lunch? After that the doctors want to run some tests and then it's time for BETA-diving."

"BETA-diving?" repeated Usagi in confusion.

"He means you'll be going to the BETA-verse." answered Naru.

"It's just techno jargon-don't worry you'll pick it all up on the way." added Fish Eye. "Now let's go get some lunch! I'm starving!" she shouted, steering Usagi back to the elevator.

---------------

After a quick lunch where Usagi found out more about the other candidates-including Diamond's panty fetish and Beryl's odd habit of seeming to want to kill him at every mention of "the locker room incident" as they referred to it and Chibi Chibi's three word vocabulary consisting of her name and "cake!"-Nephlite escorted her and her family-Naru and Fish Eye tagged along-to the medical floor.(floor 10, if you must know)

"Don't worry, Usagi-chan, this is no sweat at all!" reassured Naru, patting her shoulder.

"Yeah, Motoki-sensei will take really good care of you." agreed Fish Eye. "Motoki-san is the head medical officer here at the base. He performs all of the check ups for us most of the time and he's really nice."

With a loud ping the elevator doors open to reveal a large 40 by 40 room. A few doctors and nurses wandered about looking at read out schematics or checking on some medication dosage. Machinery hummed loudly and a operating table was closed off by a curtain while an examination table sat on the other side of the room. "This, Usagi-chan, is the Medical Level where doctors will take care of you and check up on you to determine your diet and training schedule." explained Zoisite, he then pointed to one of the doctors, a young man with short wavy blonde hair in a lab coat as she walked over. "There's Motoki-san."

"Hello, you must be Tsukino Usagi." laughed Motoki. "I'm Motoki, the head physician here."

"Hello, Motoki-sensei." greeted Usagi with a bow, a blush tinting her cheeks.

"Tsukino-chan, I'll be running some tests and doing a check up for you today so why don't we head on over to the examination table?" he smiled and gestured to the table. Usagi gulped and nodded. Fish Eye and Naru, seeing this, reached over and linked arms with her.

"Don't worry, Usagi-chan, it's not hard!" cheered Naru, pulling her towards the table.

"Easy peasy!" agreed Fish Eye, "Just sit there and do what Motoki-sensei tells you." They helped her up on the table and stepped back as Motoki came over with Zoisite, Nephlite, and her family trailing behind.

"So, Tsukino-chan, say 'ah', please." he said, putting a tongue depressor on her tongue as she opened her mouth.

The rest of the check was pretty basic-Motoki checked her heart, her hearing, her sight, and blood pressure. Finally at long last, Motoki turned to Zoisite and Nephlite and nodded.

"She's checks out fine-we've seen her past medical records and there shouldn't be a problem. You guys can go ahead and let her start diving soon." he said as he placed his clipboard to the side. He then turned back to Usagi. "Congratulations, Tsukino-chan, and welcome to the program. If you ever get hurt or need someone to talk to just come to one of us here, alright?"

"Yay, Usagi-chan!" cheered Naru.

"Now you can go diving to!" laughed Fish Eye. Usagi turned to Zoisite and Nephlite.

"Can I-" she began.

"We'll get you cleared to go diving by five o'clock, Usagi-chan." interrupted Zoisite.

"Five o'clock?" echoed Kenji, glancing at his watch. "But that's barely half an hour from now-"

"We can get authorization from Chiba-sama." explained Nephlite. "It'll take about twenty minutes for the computer start up and for Usagi-san to get suited up." He stopped and turned to Usagi. "We usually send first timers in with another of the candidates in case they need help. Usually, it's easier for others we you have another with you we you first arrive. We'll choose someone to go with you when you dive."

"Oh, I wanna go! Can I go?" begged Fish Eye.

"Hey, I'd like to go!" quipped Naru. "Nephlite-san, requesting for clearance to enter the BETA-verse with Usagi-chan!"

"Hey, no fair!"

"**_We _**will decide who is going with Usagi-san based on current performance with procedures." insisted Nephlite, interrupting their squabble. Zoisite shook his head at the two of them and piped in too.

"Fish Eye, you ignored two direct orders last time. Naru-chan, you haven't been checked over by Motoki-san's people since your last dive five weeks ago. There isn't a chance either of you are going." he retorted. Both girls groaned.

---------------

**All right, people! I have forums set up for this story and my other sailor moon stories but I need your help! Besides the SUN and EARTH SENSHI, I've tried to keep Original Characters at a minimum but I need your help:**

**I need to make one extra senshi! I want to either use Sedna which was that planet they found not too long ago or should I go with an older idea I had for Lilith. Lilith was a false moon that people thought orbited the Earth back along time ago.**

**Which should I pick? Review and come to the forum to help please!**


	5. The Standard Procedure

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.**

**BETA-vers is beta read by the too cool whitey9h. Have fun at the movies, man!**

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Mamoru rubbed his temples as he held the phone away from his ear as his step-mother screamed herself hoarse at him. After Emerald had told him about his father inviting him to dinner, he had called to tell them that he would be there-now he rather wished he hadn't.

"-for the last five months, Mamoru! I hadn't heard from you in five months-do you know what that did to me!" shouted Alice. Mamoru finally sat the phone down and began to attend to his agenda, checking to see what he was doing for the day. "I've been worried sick-nearly had a heart attack **twice**."

_"If only I was so lucky."_ he muttered to himself. _Let's see, arrive at base with Tsukinos at noon, check. Go over papers for more sources for the tech department, check._

"-and then finally hearing that you were going to be there at dinner on Saturday-"

_Write up progress report for base, check. Authorize clearance for Tsukino Usagi's dive at five-waiting for word from Zoisite and Nephlite about that. Authorize clearance for another candidate to go with Tsukino Usagi on her dive-still waiting on who Zoisite and Nephlite picked on that one too..._

"-be more like your sister? _She _phone calls! She comes home once in awhile! Why is it that you only come when your father asks you!-"

_"_Oh, yeah, like he _asked _me." he groaned as he rolled his eyes. "There's got to be a better way, right?" he muttered. There was a loud knock from the door and Mamoru looked up to his door, picking up the phone. "Gotta go, ma, duty calls."

"Don't you dare hang up on me, mister! I raised you for 12 years of your life and if you think I'll stand for being shut out of your life-" Mamoru rolled his eyes, pressed the off button and sat the phone back on it's cradle.

"Chiba-sama, permission to enter?"

"Damn it, Mamoru! Open the damn door!"

"Ahh, didn't take them too long." Mamoru chuckled. "Come in-Nephlite-san, stop asking permission, and Zoisite stop shouting." The blonde rolled his eyes at his superior as he walked in. Nephlite shrugged eloquently to his superior and rolled his eyes at his co-worker. "So, I take it Usagi-san's check up went well? Was Motoki-kun able to get her medical records?"

"Yes, sir. Motoki-sensei checked up Usagi-san and found no problem's with any of her recent MRI or CAT scans." summarized Nephlite. "Physically speaking, she's in the green for a BETA dive."

"The problem is the other person whose to go with her." added Zoisite. "Many of the candidates haven't gotten a medical check up from Motoki-san in a while."

"Well then, who has gotten it?" grumbled Mamoru, jotting down on his agenda _order candidates to take check ups._

"Urawa, Diamond, Umino, Ceres, Fish Eye, and Nephellania." answered Nephlite, reading off from a list that Motoki had given him as they entered the elevator. "Fish Eye has already shown to get along with her well but-"

"She disobeyed two of your direct orders and I had to override her by pulling rank." he finished with a sigh. He turned and jotted another point onto his agenda: _order pyshc evaluation on Fish Eye._ "We can't have her doing that again; _especially_ in front of the odango atama."

"Odango atama?" snorted Zoisite. "You're still on about that?" he sniggered. Nephlite rolled his eyes while Mamoru ignored him.

"I don't think Diamond or Nephellania would be good choices either." Nephlite informed him. "Nephellania's high strung at the moment and might take out on Usagi-san, which could affect her performance. Diamond-"

"Flirts too much." finished Zoisite. "He'll just be too busy trying to woo her into bed to notice if there's even a youma about." Nephlite opened his mouth as if to dispute him but came up short and shrugged. Mamoru sighed in annoyance-Diamond could be a flirt and a hindrance at times when there happened to be a pair of pretty legs about.

"Agreed. Other suggestions, then?"

"Umino tends to get off topic and annoy others." drawled Zoisite before Nephlite could speak causing the brunette to shake his head at him. "Ceres may try to start to haze Usagi-chan early."

"They still insist on hazing the new candidates?" sighed Mamoru. Zoisite shrugged.

"Tricking someone into a cake eating contest isn't something that mean-just sneaky." he remarked.

"How do they do it again and again, anyway?" muttered Nephlite. He shook his head and continued on. "That leaves Urawa. He'll do good. He's already done it twice and people tend to get along with him as their guide-even the quartetto listen to him."

"Urawa, then? What say you, Zoisite?" asked Mamoru, turning to the blonde who gave a could-care-less shrug. "It's decided then: Urawa it is. Please tell him then that he'll be diving with Usagi-san then."

They both nodded. They were both turning to leave when Zoisite stopped and turned back to Mamoru. "Mamoru..." he began but faltered. "Mamoru, is it true about Usagi-chan's dreams? That she knows of the events that happened at the-"

"No. She DID know of HELIOS and GAEA. She doesn't need to know about FENRIR...not yet." he sighed. He jotted another note down on his agenda before standing and nodding to both of them. "All right, we got two dives happening in two hours-get Hawks Eye-san and Tigers Eye-san to prep Usagi-san for the dive. I want Ittou-san...and...I think, Sarashina-san should be able to get Urawa prepped up."

"Yes, sir!" snapped Zoisite, giving him a cheesy salute. Nephlite had apparently had enough of his horsing around, turned, and slapped him upside the head before grabbing his collar and tugging him out of the room as Zoisite cursed fluently in three different languages. Mamoru rolled his eyes and sunk back into his chair with a huff. He sat in his butter yellow leather swivel chair, gazing about his desk before deciding to straighten it out quickly, putting pens and papers in various spots about his desk.

He was placing a folder in his desk as a picture in its frame caught his eye. His hand faltered for a moment as he reached out for it making him halt and sigh. He stood up and flipped the photo over and quietly left the room.

He didn't want to be reminded of **_her _**before the dive that afternoon.

---------------

"I wish my suit looked as good on me as yours does on you, Usagi-chan!" gushed Naru as Usagi pulled the gloves tightly back. Fish Eye and Naru had insisted on helping Usagi into her BETA diving suit which she was beginning to become very glad that she'd accepted-the suit was a close fit as it was one of Fish Eye's and pinched a bit in the bust but it was the closest thing before her own personal dive suit could be tailor made for her. "I mean it looks really good on you, Usagi-chan!"

"Really?" Usagi asked, holding her hair back so Fish Eye could finish hooking up some of the sensors in the back of the suit.

"Sure; makes you look like trim." commented Fish Eye. "Don't worry about these sensors here in back next time: they're just sensory units that you only have the first time, kay? They just need to get the read outs from this suit first before they get you any suits just for you. There; all done!"

"What's so special with this suit?" she asked, letting her hair fall back as Fish Eye hopped over the bench Usagi was sitting on that ran in between the lockers of the women's locker room. The locker room was a fairly large room with lockers on either wall of the room, bathroom stalls and showers attached by the back wall. The overall room reminded her of her school's locker room in that was exactly as boring as she expected it to be; nothing but a drab little room in gray and lavender hues.

"It's a start up suit." explained Naru, as Usagi poked and prodded the suit. "They use it on your first BETA dive and get the special read outs that are unique to you and then they make a specially designed suit based on the read outs from this suit."

"Wow." muttered Usagi as she quickly withdrew her hand from her administration on her suit. Fish Eye and Naru laughed before dragging her out of the locker room. Outside, the other candidates, Nephlite, Zoisite, Mamoru, and her family stood waiting for them. Fish Eye patted her shoulder as Naru gave her a gentle squeeze on her arm before joining the other candidates.

"Good luck, Tsukino-san!" cheered the candidates. Usagi smiled warmly at them. She blinked when she realized the Urawa had an identical suit to hers on; it was a similar all white suit with a large red circle blossoming across the chest.(1)

"Urawa will be diving with you as a guide, Usagi-san." spoke Mamoru as he saw the confused look beginning to show on her face. She blinked and nodded as Zoisite appeared at her side, tossing an arm around her; his other arm had a head lock around Urawa. He grinned and tossed an arm around her neck.

"Ready then, Usagi-chan?" snickered Zoisite affectionately.

"Ah-"

"Great! Now let's get you guys to the dive chambers and the technicians will get you plugged in!" he cheerfully exclaimed. Usagi peaked back over her shoulder to see Mamoru and Nephlite talking to her family and the other candidates, herding them into the control room. "Alright, Urawa! You'll be with Kotono-san and Asanuma-san and Usagi, you're with Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye! Good luck, we'll be watching you in the control room!" he cheered, shoving them into the elevator.

Urawa rolled his eyes as he stumbled into the elevator, the doors sliding shut behind them. At his side, Usagi nearly pitched forward onto her face but thankfully she managed to cling to the wall and save herself from a rather painful experience. With a sigh of relief she blinked behind her to Urawa who gave her a bizarre look. "Ahh, Usagi-san, are you alright?"

Blinking in shock that he'd seen her rather ungraceful fall, she blushed and tried to act nonchalant with a smile. "Ah-ha, yeah, I totally meant to do that!"

He stared at her as he felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. "Ah...will, alright, Usagi-san, if you say so."

She continued to try to laugh off her spill with her nervous chuckles as she groaned to herself inside. _Wah, that was so uncool!_

Urawa shrugged and decided to get down to business. "Alright, Usagi-san, I'm going to explain everything to you as we enter the BETA-verse, okay?" he started and waited for her to nod before going on. "Alright, when we get out of the elevator, a couple of technicians well help us get set up in the diving chairs. They'll connect some wires to your suite and then they'll help you with the tech. visor. After they leave the room, the doors seal themselves and Chiba-sama and the others will tell you what to do from there. Understand?"

"Yes!" she declared, feeling both anxious and eager to finally arrive in the BETA-verse. Urawa stared at her a moment-she seemed to be another girl from the one just before as she tumbled into the elevator; she looked to be a strong willed, brave young woman now. He merely spared her a friendly smile before the elevator in front of them slid open and four people stood before them.

"Hey, then this is the girl Fish Eye was talking about." chuckled one of the men in front of her. He had long fiery blonde hair and a fierce grin as did the other man with almost-bubble-gum pink hair. "Alright then, the name's Tigers Eye, pinky here's my brother, Hawks Eye. If you couldn't tell, were Fish Eye's older brothers."

Usagi didn't even get to remark upon this as the two other people went ahead and introduced themselves. "My name's Kotono Sarashina, and this boy next to me is Asanuma Ittou!" explained the only girl there quickly. "We four our going to be the start up technicians today!"

"Start up technicians?" echoed Usagi at a loss. Kotono nodded.

"Yep, that means we help you get plugged into the BETA-verse!" she answered. Tigers Eye took his cue and cut in.

"Okay, let's get you guys set up in the chairs then. Tsukino-san, you're with me and Hawks Eye. Urawa-san's going with Ittou and Sarashina." he explained, steering her into a room with Hawks Eye following behind. Surprised, she looked over her shoulder to see Asanuma roll his eye and Kotono shepherding Urawa forward into another room.

"Ah-I thought Urawa was going to becoming with me?" she asked, surprised by the new turn of events.

"He is. He'll be in the BETA-verse with you. But the diving chairs only accommodate one person. He's going to be in another chair." explained Hawks Eye patiently as they showed her into the room. It was the same room as she had seen on the screen in the control room earlier, white metal surrounding the circular room. What surprised her was how high the ceiling was going up nearly six meters up but she wasn't quite sure how high it actually went as the ceiling was too shadowy to make out it's height. Coming from the ceiling, a large red visor hung above the chair. Standing in the room, Usagi was hit by a strange sense of deja vu.

"Alright, Tsukino-san, up into the chair." ordered Tigers Eye, helping her up. She slipped up into the chair and rested on the padded back. At least it was comfy, she thought as the two technicians began to plug wires into her suit. "Almost done, Tsukino-san." they grunted as they fought a few of the few plugs into the chair. When the plugs went into the chair, steam hissed out for a moment. "There, now for the visor."

Hawks Eye reached up and snagged the visor before putting it on Usagi's head. It was large but the inside was padded, the screen that went over her eyes was a reddish orange color. When Hawks Eye flipped a switch, a whirring noise whistled into her left ear and a few amber colored marks appeared on the screen before disappearing. After they disappeared the screen turned blue.

"How'd it do that?" she asked, trying to turn to the technicians. She suddenly realized she couldn't move; the heavy plugs and visor weighed her down to much. "H-hey! How am I supposed to move!"

"Huh? Oh, that?" pipped Tigers Eye. "Don't worry about that. Alright, you're all set. Wait for Chiba-sama to tell you what to do. Good luck." he called as he and his brother exited the room.

"H-hey! Jerks! You didn't answer me!" she shouted after them in a huff. Resigning herself to not getting her answers, she waited for a sign.

Quietly and suddenly, a voice pipped in her right ear. "Usagi-san, can you hear me?" asked Nephlite.

"Hey, hey, Usagi-chan, how are you in there!"

"Zoisite, don't be so informal in the control room." ordered Mamoru.

"Ah, yes, I can hear you." answered Usagi before Zoisite could retort and make a scene. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just relax." Nephlite told her. "We'll tell you what to do. Alright, first we have to boot up the gate passage to the BETA-verse. We're doing that right now, it will only take us a moment. After that we'll log you into the BETA-verse."

"How, do I know I'm there?" she asked in confusion. _They make it sound like they were logging into their e-mail on the internet._ she thought a bit huffily as she waited for an answer.

"Trust us, you'll know." answered Zoisite.

"Well...alright." she muttered.

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**(1.) The BETA diving suits worn by candidates and SENSHI are meant to look something the country's representative flag. Usagi's looks like the Japanese flag, Minako's like England, and so on.**


	6. The MOON SENSHI

_"Just relax." Nephlite told her. "We'll tell you what to do. Alright, first we have to boot up the gate passage to the BETA-verse. We're doing that right now, it will only take us a moment. After that we'll log you into the BETA-verse."_

_"How, do I know I'm there?" she asked in confusion. They make it sound like they were logging into their e-mail on the internet. she thought a bit huffily as she waited for an answer._

_"Trust us, you'll know." answered Zoisite._

_"Well...alright." she muttered._

**And now to continue...**

---------------

Usagi was beginning to feel like an idiot as she sat in the chair. Nothing was happening really except that a small green light was beginning to blink in the glowing blue visor. "Hey, guys, how much longer will this take because I'm beginning to feel-" Suddenly, the green little light grew and the visor turned green. "Woah! Is it supposed to do that?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry Usagi-chan, you're being well taken care of." snorted Zoisite into her ear. Quietly she heard him and another person talk where the only word she really made out was "Sir?" before she heard her brother take over the line.

"Hey, Nee-chan, what's it like!" asked Shingo excitedly. She heard an "oof!" before her mother and father both tried to talk to her at the same time.

"Usagi-chan, are you alright?"

"Don't worry, Usagi-chan, we're right here so don't worry!"

"Hey, I wanna talk to her!" she heard Shingo shout over his parents voices. Usagi rolled her eyes. Leave to her family to steal Zoisite's microphone to say silly things. She could even hear Zoisite demanding his headset back along with Mamoru's snickering and Nephlite's "Oh, dear." Finally, Zoisite got the headset and huffed loudly.

"Alright, Usagi-chan one last step before you're in. On the screen, it will ask for you to verbally give a password. The password will be keyed specifically to your voice, alright?" he said as he typed away. She thought a moment before murmuring a sound of agreement. "Okay, your password is _"daughter of Hyperion"."_

"Alright." she said. "Um...do I give it now?"

"Wait for a little yellow light to show up in the corner." answered Mamoru.

"It should be there now." commented Nephlite. True enough, a little light began beep in the corner. "Say it when it says "Password"."

She waited another moment before a blinking "PASSWORD" showed up in corner replacing the small light. Taking a steading breath, she gave the password. "Daughter of Hyperion!" she shouted clearly.

Suddenly, just like the green screen from before the entire visor turned yellow. But something different happened this time; the screen flashed yellow for a moment before flashing red, then blue, green, and yellow finally before starting the process again before the colors blended together. Usagi began to feel slightly sea sick and quickly scrunched up her eyes. A moment of dizziness and disconcertation later, she carefully opened herself to find herself floating in a void. "Eek!" she yelled, windmilling her arms about.

_"**Usagi**!"_

"Ehh?" she squeaked, looking about. She looked about for what had seemed to be a soft feminine, almost motherly.

"Usagi-san! It's alright, don't worry!" called a very different voice. Usagi gulped a deep breath and closed her eyes once more before carefully opening her eyes once more. Urawa stood above her, staring down with cautious eyes as she gaped at him. "Ahh...Usagi-san, you can get up now."

Blushing thickly, she bounced up onto the balls of her feet and turned to Urawa. "Ah! Urawa-kun, did you hear a voice just now?" she asked advancing upon him. Urawa blinked and took a step back from the young fiery woman. "And where the heck are we!"

"Umm, I didn't hear anything but right now, we've entered the BETA-verse." he told her giving her a wide berth. _Such a strange girl! Not unkind, but still very excitable..._ he thought as she gaped at him before wheeling about to stare at their surroundings.

Usagi was surprised to see was appeared to a pock marked, scarred, grey land. It was like the pictures of the lunar surface Usagi had seen in her science book, except instead of being relatively flat, the ground was penetrated by strange almost stalagmite rocks shooting into the inky blackness that made up an unnatural sky. Instead of standing on the ground, Usagi and Urawa floated at least a meter above the ground. Usagi stared down beneath her feet and gave a shiver of both excitement and fear. At last, she was finally in the BETA-verse!

"Alright, then Usagi-san?" asked Urawa, cocking his head to the side as she viewed the surroundings. "Not quite what you expected, huh?" he said with a grin. She twisted about as she looked but nodded to him anyway.

"I expected it to be a bit more...inviting, I guess!" she conceded, as she looked about.

"Hey, hey, Usagi-chan!" piped Zoisite into her ear. Usagi gasped and jumped at the voice. "Steady girl, no need to panic."

"Where are you?" she asked loudly uncertain of what to do. At her side, Urawa smiled; new people in the BETA-verse were very funny to watch.

"In the same place I was five minutes ago. The control room." he snorted. "About a floor from your body. So, what's it like in the BETA-verse, Usagi-chan?"

"My body!" she squeaked. "Somebody explain exactly what happened, please!" she shouted. To her irritation, she heard her brother steal Zoisite's microphone again and shouted in her ear.

"It was cool, nee-chan!" he shouted in joy. Obviously he was enjoying himself a little too much for her comfort. "You had like a mini-seizure and foamed at the mouth and then you went like "bleh!" and passed out!"

"Usagi-chan, are you okay!" she heard her mother shout over the line. With a sigh, Usagi and Urawa listened as Zoisite wrestled his microphone back from her family. Finally, he had it back in hand and muttered things about "annoying families". Seeing that Zoisite wouldn't be done anytime soon, Nephlite stepped in and began to answer her questions for her.

"Usagi-san, you went through a mild seizure because of an adverse reaction to the log in process. Like a person going into a seizure because of strobe lights." he told her. "Nearly all candidates have it happen the first time which is one reason why those cables are so heavy. Anyway, you're vitals are perfectly fine. Right now, your brain's entered REM state which allows you to gain entrance to the BETA-verse."

"Rem?" she echoed confused. Urawa picked up on her confusion.

"REM state is the state of sleep in which you dream." he answered. "REM state is the only way to enter the BETA-verse. It's physically impossible for us now with the technology we have now to enter the BETA-verse physically. In REM, your brain slips into the BETA-verse just like when you had those dreams before, remember?"

"Are you saying we're dreaming this?" she asked in surprise.

"Something like that. What's happened is you have more less stepped out of your body and straight into the BETA-verse in layman's terms." he explained. "It's like an out of body experience really."

"No kidding." she muttered as she looked about. "So what do here?"

"For today nothing." Mamoru cut in. "On your first dive, everyone gets to dive for about half a hour before logging out. We don't want any youma to find you on your first try. Right now, we're going to have you test out your weapons first."

"Weapons?" she asked.

"Weapons to defend against the youma." answered Nephlite. "A weapon is assigned to a single individual and specified to that person's stats."

"So, I get a weapon." she repeated. She heard her brother shout loudly in the back ground how "cool" it was and how jealous of her he was. "Where do I get the weapon."

"It'll show up in your visor." Nephlite told her quietly.

"My-oh!" she gasped. She hadn't realized she was wearing a visor; unlike her giant headset in the diving chamber, a free floating visor hung in front of her face. Over her left eye, a pop-up menu appeared. In the menu, a list of various types of weapon appeared from sling shots to glaives. She blinked as the menu scrolled down before landing on sword. "Alright, I guess I'll try this one first?"

"Go right ahead." Mamoru told her. "Choose which one you want the most and which suits you best."

"Suits me best?" she echoed. Frowning, she scrolled up the menu til she landed on "Frisbee". "I'm pretty good with a frisbee." she said aloud. She felt warmth grow in her right hand as a little red _ok!_ appeared in the corner. A light flashed and a small crescent shaped boomerang appeared in her hands. Eyeing it warily, she bent her knees and gave it a good toss.

It cut through the air as it arched high and spun back to her. It flew to her hand, glowing again as it made contact with her palm. Feeling more confident with it, she gave it another toss with a smile. "You know, I don't see how a boomerang could be-" she stalled in shock as the boomerang sailed straight ahead and cleanly cut a rock straight through before returning to her. "...a weapon..."

"Nifty, ne, Usagi-chan?" chirped Zoisite into her ear. "That the one you want then?"

"Umm...yeah..." she murmured cradling the boomerang gently in both hands with fascination. "I'll think it'll do."

"Good!" he laughed. "I'll have a specialized frisbee for you next time you dive!"

"Alright, Usagi-san," said Mamoru. "I want you to log off now."

"What!" she shouted. "No! I haven't done anything yet! And where's the moon doll!" she snapped at him angrily.

"Usagi-san..." interrupted Urawa. "We haven't found her yet."

"Wha?" she asked in shock.

"It's true." agreed Mamoru. "The LUNA doll will only come forth when the MOON SENSHI will appear in need of her most. Right now, she hasn't appeared yet to any of the candidates. Anyway, we need you too to log off now. Urawa-san, Usagi-san, log off now!"

"How do we do that anyway?" she asked.

"We start up the exit procedure and then it will ask for your password. When it does, just say it and you'll log out." he answered her. "Now, wait for it to ask and then log out. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." she answered in annoyance. She waited and listened as they started the log out process when something very strange happened. Text flashed onto her visor.

_Hello, Usagi._

"Huh?" she gasped. "Zoisite-kun, is this a joke?"

"Joke?" he repeated in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

_I've been waiting for you..._

_...for a very long time._

"Alright, now knock it off!" she shouted in exasperation.

---

"Chiba-sama...I'm getting a strange reading from Usagi's visor." reported Nephlite.

"What's going on?" he asked moving to him. Zoisite turned to talk as well.

"I'm getting the same thing...It looks like messages addressing Usagi-chan!" he said quickly. Mamoru grimaced.

"Could someone being trying to hack the system and communicate with Usagi-san from the outside?" he asked. Zoisite shook his head.

"Impossible. I have the system more secure than Fort Knox! If somebody could manage to hack us, then we deserve to get hacked because I have checked this entire system more than I can count. Do you know how many files that is?" he answered with a twitch at the end. He was a bit maniacal when it came to his baby of a computer.

"So then, what could be doing this?" asked Nephlite, ignoring most of his friend's rant.

"Well, it's not coming from the outside...so it's possible," he said, "that's it's coming from the _inside_."

Mamoru's eyes narrowed. "So who could that be...?"

"Sir?" asked a voice from behind them. Fish Eye and the rest of the candidates stood there beside the panicky Tsukino family. "We think we know."

"And?" he asked, turning his full attention on her.

"We think it might be..."

---

"...LUNA doll?" Usagi whispered as she realized who was writing to her. Urawa's eyes were as round as dinner plates as he watched her talk to the doll on her visor.

_Yes, Usagi._

_Usagi, please you must..._

_...be careful! Your enemies..._

_...are drawing closer!_

"What?" she gasped in surprise, Urawa at her side read the text and gasped.

"Youma!" he shouted as he ducked away, a long dark brown blur flashed and slammed into the spot he had just been. Usagi stiffened and slowly looked over her shoulder.

She wished she hadn't.

About two meters away, a almost skeletal figure retracted the long brown arm that had shot out for Urawa. It looked like a tall woman with brown hair flying out around her head. "She" had brown colored skin pulled taunt over her features as if she almost didn't have enough skin. Her eyes were completely black except for her yellow irises. She wore a long, ragged purple dress and a smile full of shattered, decayed teeth. Upon her forehead, a star burst scar stretched out.

"AHHH!" Usagi screamed as she jumped over to Urawa. In Urawa's hand, light glowed then formed a long, sharp looking sword. Taking the cue, Usagi's boomerang appeared in her hand and she nervously took a defensive posture.

"Ha, think you can stop Morga, then?" barked the youma. "Let's find out!"

Usagi yelped and ducked as Morga pounced upon then and swung her boomerang at her as Urawa sliced at her with the sword. To both of their horrors their weapons bounced off her tough body. "She isn't like the rest of the youma!" stuttered Urawa in surprise. "Zoisite-san, log us out!" he shouted. Usagi felt her stomach drop out as she heard the answer.

_"_We can't!_ **Something **stopping us!"_

_Usagi! I shall..._

_...help you! Call out..._

_...my name and I shall come!_

"Alright!" she squeaked. Morga turned and looked at her, mouth gaping open in laughter at her. With a scream, she jumped out of the monster's reach. "Ack!"

_Usagi! Do it now!_

"Okay! LUNA DOLL!" she screamed.

Her entire shone with golden light, bathing her in calm warmth. _Oh..._ she thought distantly, as the warmth drew into her hand. In her cupped hands, the small, beautiful LUNA doll shone. Morga screamed and hid her eyes from the light as Urawa's mouth formed a perfect "o".

"_Usagi! Call out Moon Transform!" _called the small doll.

Usagi nodded slowly and lifted out the doll. "Mooooooooon...TRANSFORM!" she shouted. Around her body, the warm golden light returned and swirled around her pulling her into its spin. As she spun she felt the light condescending upon her suit, changing it. Around her chest, armor clinked into place, forming around her breast. Upon her arms, large arm guards snapped into place. On her legs, more armor formed around her. Even upon her head, she felt a change; two small discs appeared on her buns, and her visor disappeared. In her hand, a pink scepter flashed into existence.

"I don't believe it!" gasped Urawa. "Usagi-san is-!"

"The MOON SENSHI!" gasped Zoisite as he looked up to the video screen above him on the monitor. Mamoru's mouth fell open as he looked upon the scene.

_"Now, Usagi! Call out Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"_

"Right!" she shouted. Morga screamed and raced to her; she reached out and quicker than she could stop her caught hold of Usagi's neck. "Ugh!" she yelped as Morga tightened her hold on Usagi's neck.

"Usagi!" gasped Mamoru, as he watched on the video screen above, displaying the scene to the entire control room. There was gasps all around as they watched the monster bare down on Usagi but he was deaf to it all.

"Usagi-san!" gasped Urawa. All thought was suspended as the single notion of "have to help Usagi!" ran through his head making him bring his sword down hard upon Morga's back. With a hiss, Morga let go and swatted at him.

Taking her chance, Usagi jumped away, rubbing her sore neck. Bringing her scepter up, she called out. "Moon!" she shouted, swinging her scepter back. "Spiral!" she called, beginning to spin before stopping, kneeling mid air. "Heart ATTACK!"

Morga barely had a chance to scream as the blast destroyed her. With out even a chance to see the end of the battle, the yellow glow returned, enveloping the entire battlefield. All Usagi heard before she passed was Mamoru's gasped "Usagi!" as she passed out.

---------------

**Hah, I'm not dead! I just took awhile! Anyway, the next chapter's already started and I'll tell you it's more of an interlude as the plot moves on. We get to see Usagi's reaction to being the MOON SENSHI along with some Naru/Nephlite/Umino development. They deserve it! Well, see you soon!**


	7. Interlude: The Date

"Usagi-chan?" called Naru, as she slowly inched the locker room door open. Fish Eye peaked in around her, trying to see their blonde friend. "Are you okay, Usagi-chan?" she called in.

"Usagi-chan?" called Fish Eye, taking a step in. "Are you even-oh!" she gasped. Usagi was standing in the nude in front of a mirror, dripping wet; obviously she had just stepped out of the shower. Fish Eye jumped back out of the room with a surprised blush. "Sorry!"

"Um, um, Usagi-chan, we just wanted to know if you wanted to come upstairs to the cafeteria and have some, um, cake...with us?" Naru stilled and shared a look with Fish Eye before both of them peeked back into the room. "Ahh, Usagi-chan?" she called.

Usagi stood still as a statue, cautiously running her fingertips over her throat. Across her throat, ugly fading yellow-green bruises and red welts marred her neck. Usagi eyed the marks warily as if they were a permanent threat. Fish Eye and Naru shared one more look before they backed out of the room on tip toes. As Naru carefully pulled the door shut, she turned to Fish Eye.

"I think she's acting strange." she murmured to her. Fish Eye nodded.

"She's acted like that since she woke up, remember!" she said.

---

_"Hey, she's waking up!"_ called a voice high above her. Usagi groggily opened her eyes and blinked; her brother and her friends hovered above her head. She didn't even get a chance to speak before she heard Motoki and another man, a brunette, fought their way through the crowd around her and began to examine her.

"Tsukino-san, how are you feeling?" asked Motoki, as the other man began to check her vitals. Motoki shined a light into her eyes as he waited for her to answer. She groaned, flushing wildly at his proximity, and swung herself up to the side with a groan.

"Where am I?" she asked, clutching her head as a migraine pounded on her temples.

"The infirmary." the brunette told her as he stuck a stethoscope upon her chest. It was then she realized that she was out of the white diving suit and into one of the dresses patients in hospitals wear.

"How long have I been out?" she asked in amazement.

"About a week." answered Shingo to her left. He was sitting on her bed, sitting unusually close to her. "You scared mama and tou-san bad, nee-chan! They're in the cafeteria right now and-"

"Oi, Shingo-kun, give your sister a break." tsked Fish Eye as she dragged him away from the bed.

"Ne, you did give us a scare, Usagi-chan!" said Naru. She leaned forward with a grin but stopped when she saw Usagi looking in a mirror, delicately touching her neck. Her entire throat was a mess of large purple bruises and red welts from where the youma had clutched her neck as she had tried to strangle her to death. Usagi looked pale and sick as she viewed the marks. "Usagi-chan?"

---

"This has to stop!" urged Fish Eye, slamming her fist into her palm for emphasis. "I mean, she's our friend and we can't let her be down like this, right?"

"No!" agreed Naru, nodding her head firmly. "So, let's go get her then drag her up to the cafeteria for that cake eating contest!" The two girls nodded, stood, then carefully poked their heads through the door before rushing their friend. Grabbing a towel, Naru wrapped it around Usagi's now cold and dripping body and Fish Eye tossed an arm around her neck.

"Eep!" gasped Usagi as both Fish Eye and Naru pulled her into an impromptu hug.

"Enough of this moping!" demanded Fish Eye.

"Yes, you shouldn't look so sad, Usagi-chan, it adds years to your face!" urged Naru.

Caught in between the arms of her two friends, Usagi couldn't help but stare at them. Both of them were so worried for her and she'd never noticed. Smiling softly, she put her arms up and gently grabbed arms of the two of them and nodded. "Okay, I won't mope anymore."

"Good!" snapped Fish Eye. "I was beginning to worry you were going to back out on us!"

"Fish Eye!" scolded Naru. "Don't be mean, she had a lot to think about." She then turned back to her blonde friend still caught between her and Fish Eye. "Usagi-chan, you're going to stay aren't you?"

Usagi fell quiet, her eyes searching back to her neck's reflection. Fish Eye caught this and leaned close to her. "You know, nearly everyone has scars."

Usagi blinked and looked at her. "Huh?"

"Yes, what happens in the BETA-verse happens out here in real life." explained Naru. "If you get hurt in there, you get hurt out here. I don't know why, you'd have to ask Zoisite-san." she finished with a shrug before going on. "But let's not worry about that now, let's go get some cake!"

"Eh? W-wait! Let me get dressed first!"

---------------

"Mmm, that was some yummy cake!" cheered Usagi as she sat back in her chair. The quartetto and Chibi Chibi cheered loudly with a simple praise from Kakyuu, Nephellania, Beryl, Alan, and Umino looked slightly sick while Urawa, Ann, Diamond, Fish Eye, and Naru looked on in awe. Usagi had been "tricked" into the hazing process easily enough-they just hadn't thought she'd actually win at the cake eating contest.

"Amazing!" "Great!" "Fantastic!" cheered the quaretto.(Chibi Chibi just kept shouting "Cake!")

"You just ate twelve of Catzy's prized cakes without a single break except to drink your soda!" gasped Umino, mind boggled at the sheer mechanics of what he had just witnessed. "Astounding!"

"Quite a talent." smiled Kakyuu noncommitally.

"It'll be great with you here, Usagi-chan!" shouted Pallas with glee.

"Especially with some of the others leaving-" started Juno but was quickly shushed by the other three but it was too late. Usagi had heard and had gaped at her.

"Who's leaving?" she asked in shock.

"Well," started Urawa with a guilty wiggle in his seat. "since you **are** the MOON SENSHI, some of us aren't needed here anymore and have been offered a chance to leave the compound. ...Permanently." he added as an afterthought. "I know like me, some of us are..."

"Wah, Urawa-kun, you're going too?" asked Pallas.

"B-but, I just got to meet you!" protested Usagi. "You're all leaving because I'm here?"

"Usagi-chan." interrupted Zoisite. Everyone turned and looked to see him in front of the elevator evidently having just walked in the room; at his side, Mamoru and Nephlite walked to the group and sat with them. "It's a little redundant to have so many candidates here when we already _have _found the MOON SENSHI."

"Besides, Usagi-san," commented Mamoru, "I'm sure they have other things they want to do other than sit around here and do nothing. Alan-san and Ann-san have their wedding to plan, and from what I understand Umino-san, Urawa-san, and Naru-san are still attending high schoo-"

Usagi--with her somewhat selective hearing--whirled onto Naru who merely shrank down in her seat. "Naru-chan! You're leaving too!"

"I-ah, yes, Usagi-chan." she said with a nervous grin. "I, um, already contacted my mother and she's coming for me soon, and Mamoru-sama's already cleared everything with my teachers and...I'm...leaving in...a couple days?" she blabbed, rattling off anything that came to mind as she stared into the sad and lonely face of Usagi. "I...am sorry?"

"Oh, Naru-chan!" wailed Usagi. "I just got to met you and now you're leaving!" she huffed and sat herself firmly into her chair before reaching for more of the cake. The rest sweat dropped when it dawned on them that she was going to polish another cake. "Mmm, cake's the only thing that helps..." she mumbled. She was half way through her new slice before she turned back to Naru. "Hey, Naru-chan?"

"I-ah-yeah?" she asked feeling rather unintelligent as she spoke. Usagi didn't seem to notice as she shoved her cake away before taking her friend's hand in her own.

"Just because you're leaving, that doesn't mean you'll never come back to visit does it?" Usagi asked. Naru felt a great wave of relief run through her.

"Oh! Well, yes, of course I'll come visit-err, if that's allowed, Mamoru-sama?" she asked turning to the director. Mamoru smiled a bit of the girls, feeling a bit of relief that he wouldn't have to deal with any strife from the girls.

"Actually, I wanted to speak with you who were leaving about that. We'd like you'd to come in periodically to test to see if you're ability to dive will be affected by your absence from the base." he told them.

"See?" grinned Naru, feeling cheered herself. "We'll have to come now."

"Yay!" cried Usagi and the two girls shared a hug.

"So," began Zoisite, reclining back in his chair. "When are all of you planning to leave?"

"Well," started Urawa. "My uncle will pick me up in about three days. My family will be waiting for me back home."

"Me and Alan can leave by tomorrow morning if we have too." chipped in Ann. "Probably tomorrow night."

"I was planning in two days." added Urawa. Naru sighed and thought for a minute.

"I was thinking about two days, too." she finally said. "It might be hard to get a ride from way out here but-"

"Well!" crowed Usagi, with her fist upraised. "That gives us time to have a party right now! Catzy-san! More cake!"

"More cake?"

"Are you kidding!"

Admist the chaos that Usagi had caused, Naru stole a peek to the far end of the table where Nephlite laughed at something Mamoru had said to him. As if feeling someone's sights upon him he looked up to find her stare. She flushed and turned back to the vivacious blonde at her side leaving him somewhat mystified as to what had just happened.

---------------

Nephlite, who had dismissed Naru's strange look earlier, was suddenly confronted with the reason why when she asked to join her in the control room after the impromptu "cakefest" Usagi had called for. He found her sitting, staring wistfully up at the screens in front of her.

"You wanted to see me, Naru-san?" he asked. He blinked as she jumped at his voice and looked up at him blankly for a second til her mind caught up with her.

"I-um-I," she stuttered, trying to think of something to say. "Which, um, is to say, ah...Nephlite-san, do you want to come get a chocolate parfait with me!" she blurted out. (Nephlite couldn't help but notice she did that a lot when she was nervous.)

"I...what?" he asked, confused to what had brought this on. Naru usually didn't even talk to him, and now here she was proposing what sounded like a date to him. He watched her face slowly falling and thought, _well why not?_ "Ah, sure."

He blinked at the way her face lit up and wondered what he had gotten himself into.

Needless to say, "what he got himself into" happened to entail a rather daring escape--he supposed it was daring, as they had to move quietly and secretly--and taking his car, getting the sleepy and grumpy guard to open the gate, and making a get-a-way to the nearest town--nearly an hour away, he noted as he chatted with the girl at his side. When they finally ended up in front of a fast food restaurant--the only shop open at the ungodly hour--they had found they only brought enough money for one parfait and they decided to split it. (With quite a bit of blushing on both sides; it was Naru who suggested using two straws to try to elevate some of the tension.)

That's how they ended up in sitting in the tiny booth, slurping away at their chocolate parfait and make some lame attempts at conversation.

"So, ah, what is it you'll do when you leave?"

"Go to high school."

"Right. I knew that."

Or...

"So, uh, what's your favorite color?"

"...yellow."

"...really?"

It all boiled down to a rather awkward evening that in Naru's mind was a disaster compared to what she had originally planned. She had even thought up witty things to say to impress him, and now not a single thing she had come up with seemed to work. It all fell rather short of her expectations until Nephlite finally stumbled--unwittingly one might add--onto a safe, decent comment.

"You know, this is the first time I've ever had a chocolate parfait before." he commented, giving a loud slurp to suck up the remains of the parfait. "It's not bad."

Naru goggled at him in shock. "That was your first parfait?"

"Yeah." he muttered. "Did you want the last or can just try to gulp it now?"

"I-go right ahead." she giggled. He shrugged and downed the chocolate confection leaving a mustache on his lip. For some reason this struck Naru as hilarious compared to the awkward night she'd being having the entire time. She clutched at her sides as she shook with laughter. He merely blinked and licked his lips before realizing why she was laughing, he then snatched up a napkin to clean his face as he chuckled with her. "Oh-oh! That-that-was-heehee!"

"Thanks for telling me about that, Naru-san." he quipped as he snorted at her. This seemed to send her into hysterics--she got a little funny when she didn't sleep enough and she was running on only a couple of hours of sleep--and he finally broke down and starting laughing with her.

"Oh-tha-that is too, too funny!" she finally said after she'd calm down enough. "Oh geez, why were we laughing anyway?"

"I don't remember." he admitted, chuckling.

Finally a peaceful silence fell over them as they settled down. Lack of sleep was taking it's toll on them and both began to drift off to their own thoughts; Naru's gaze landed on the road as lazy cars drove on and on and Nephlite began to play with a one hundred yen piece, spinning it in fast circles around the table top.

It slowly began to creep up on Naru, a realization of a lifetime, that the man beside her wasn't quite the man she had thought he was. She always pictured him as a debonair, older man with a passionate lifestyle. Now it slowly hit her that he was an older man, too old for her, who lived a rather simple and normal life if one discounted his odd job. She could met a man like him a hundred times in her life and only make friends with him. She couldn't help but marvel at the revelation as she stared at the spinning coin before it finally clattered to an end.

"You know," she began, her revelation and lack of sleep making her bold, "I thought I was in love with you."

He finally looked up at her. It struck her that he was slightly shy about the changes that came with his life and situation. For such a frank man she hadn't thought him to be the uncertain type when it came to girls. "Did you?"

"Yeah." she confirmed. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"I think I just loved my romantized version of you."

"Really." he said, sitting back. He seemed calmer than he had been all night now that it looked like maybe their "date" was ending and she was changing her mind about him.

"Yeah. I'm glad I figured that out before I left for home." she told him. She finally mustered a smile for him which he returned. "I think I'll be okay now. I'm glad."

His smile grew softer. "Me too." he agreed quietly before sighing and stretching. "Soo, I suppose that calls an end to our date?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." she smiled back as she slid out of the booth like him. "We better get back. I think they'll have noticed us gone."

"Yeah." he agreed, as they got into his car. "Let's go."

So one hour later, they arrived back at the base, weary and sleepy as they convinced the guard to let them back in, got out of the car only to find Zoisite and Mamoru waiting impatiently. Mamoru had lifted a brow as Naru bid them good night and had stumbled to the elevator. Nephlite yawned and ignored his friends as he stretched.

"Do you even realize she's only fifteen right?" asked Mamoru.

"Geez, Nephlite, I know that you haven't had a girlfriend for a while-neither have I-but that doesn't mean that you need to hit up minors for-" started Zoisite.

"Enough." Nephlite grunted. "We didn't do anything. We when out, ate, came back."

"...did he just admit to having a date with a fifteen year old?" asked Zoisite suspiciously. Mamoru only nodded in his amazement and shook his head to pull himself together.

"Nephlite dating the candidates is-"

"-Against the rules." he finished for him. "One of the reasons why there won't be a second date."

"Oh, what? Was it that bad?" teased Zoisite with a lecherous grin.

"Yes and no. She realized she didn't like me _that way_ and I never really planned on the date in the first place." he answered seriously, fighting back a yawn. "Besides, she is fifteen as you pointed out and leaving in...a day." he concluded as he peered at the clock on the wall. The elevator finally pinged and opened; wasting no time, Nephlite stepped inside followed by Zoisite and hesitant Mamoru.

"Look, just no more of this dating the candidates." Mamoru finally said firmly. "You, me, and whoever you're dating will get us into a hell of alotta trouble with the higher-ups...and I don't plan on anymore family dinners, if you catch my drift."

"Please, Mamoru, what is really so bad about dinner with the folks and your sis once in a while?" drawled Zoisite. Mamoru fitted him with an evil glare.

"You," he snapped, "can _stand_ your family. Mine's _insane_."

"Kou-chan is _not _that bad." laughed Zoisite, naming Seiya's rarely used first name.

"Alice is a nightmare! In pastel pink!" raged Mamoru. Zoisite and Nephlite shared a look clearly stating that they thought their superior had finally gone off his rocker. "And Chichi-ue will go on and on-"

"Well that explains where you get it." snickered Zoisite. Mamoru went deadly still and gave Zoisite such a murderous look that even Nephlite froze in fear at the sight.

"Anyways!" crowed Nephlite nervously to try and diffuse the situation before Mamoru murdered the blonde. "I'm going to bed after I call in to the higher-ups!" he explained. "I need to tell them about Usagi and the others that are leaving."

Mamoru blinked at his communications head. "I thought you already told them about her..."

"I need to confirm her health. And they want to know about the others who are leaving soon." he explained. "Besides, I was going to go ahead and forward her recent medical read-outs to the higher ups with the others. After they found out they couldn't go with Usagi because they didn't have their check-ups, most marched down to the medical wing and got them taken then and there."

Mamoru frowned and pulled out a slip of paper. Zoisite and Nephlite blinked at it wonderingly. "This came earlier while you were out. I wanted to wait for all three of us to be here to read it." he explained before smoothing out the paper. "It says that the higher ups want Usagi to meet with the other SENSHI."

"But-" started Zoisite, grasping for something to say. "-wait. We just started Usagi diving! She's only been in one combat situation! We need time to properly record data on her, we just can't have her up and traipsing around the continents."

"We should at least wait for her parents agreement. It might be superfluous but candidates usually get on better when their family is behind them." argued Nephlite.

Mamoru held up his hand. "I know. That's why there coming here, to Japan. All of them."

---------------

Naru quietly stumbled down to the female bunk room, fighting the urge to flop down on the floor and fall into a deep sleep. She bit back a yawn and swiped at her eyes as she walked on. She was half way to the door when she realized that there was a hunched figure camped out the door.

Blinking in shock, she crept closer before she realized it was actually Umino, knees tucked up to his chin, fast asleep. She stared at him a moment before she decided to wake him and find out what he was doing in front of the door. Reaching out to shake his shoulder, she proceeded in waking the boy. "Umino-kun? Ah, what are you doing here?"

"Maa...huh?" he groaned as he came to his senses. He blinked and squinted hard at her before realizing his glasses were askew, leaving him half blind. Naru smiled at him and thought to herself that even though his glasses were big and dorky and his mouth was too wide to be really handsome that he did have his own charm. "Ahh, Naru-chan!" he gasped as he shot up. Unfortunately, his legs had cramped from being sitting there so long gave out underneath and he landed in an ungracefully mess on the floor.

"Umino-kun, are you alright?" she asked, helping him to haul his body up.

"I-uh-yeah, I'm fine!" he gasped, rubbing life back into his limbs. Naru spared him a bemused smile and helped dust him off.

"Umino-kun, what are you doing here anyway? Why are you asleep?" she asked. She was somewhat amused to see him flush so brightly.

"I-um-I-ah-wa-want-t-ted t-to talk wi-wi-wi-with-"

"With...me?" she guessed, trying to help him along. He gulped loudly and nodded. "Well, that's fine. What did you need?"

"I-ah-wanted-to um...I wanted to know if you'd go out with me after we leave!" he blurted out, nearly bowling her over. She blinked and stared at him. It hit her as she looked at him that he was a nice boy who reminded her awfully of herself a few hours ago. She smiled at him and he waited on baited breath for her answer.

"Sure. Whenever you want." she told him. She then had to step back as he did a spastic victory dance. _Well_, she amended as she giggled at him, _at least he's enthusiastic. ...I'm glad I didn't dance like this in front of Nephlite..._ As silly as his dance was, Naru had to admit Umino pulled off looking cute as he did it.


End file.
